Reactions poured in on social media and elsewhere as Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth was grilled by Democrats on Capitol Hill following a tense confirmation hearing that often got personal.
‘Pete Hegseth is crushing it,’ Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer posted on X. ‘It is refreshing to hear someone relentlessly focus on warriors and lethality, without playing Washington’s word-salad game of forcing nominees to talk like social workers who run government agencies.’
‘The Senate likes to claim that hearings as serious, deliberative acts of policy making and statesmanship, but many Senate Armed Service Committee Democrats’ behavior during Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday revealed the sad truth that most Senate hearings, confirmation or not, are kabuki theater,’ Bradley Devlin, The Daily Signal politics editor, told Fox News Digital.
Ned Ryun, President of ‘American Majority’, told Fox News Digital that Hegseth handled himself ‘magnificently.’
‘He communicated a clear vision for a new day at the Pentagon where the Department of Defense leaves behind the weakness of woke and focuses on deterrence through strength,’ Ryun said. ‘And when Democrats attempted to use the anonymously sourced attacks to undermine Pete, he handled those with grace. It really was a fantastic hearing for him and leaves little doubt in my mind that he’ll easily be confirmed.’
‘They didn’t lay a glove on Hegseth today,’ CNN political commentator Scott Jennings posted on X. ‘Why do Dems send their dumbest members to this important committee?’
‘This hearing has made two things abundantly clear: 1. The left remains fully committed to the disastrous, woke, weak, and failed policies that were soundly rejected in November,’ the account belonging to former HUD Secretary Ben Carson and his wife Candy posted on X. ‘It’s actually sad. 2. Pete Hegseth is going to be a fantastic Secretary of Defense. This is how it’s done.’
‘While Democratic senators distracted with hearsay allegations and character assassinations, Pete Hegseth stayed the course on what the military is about: lethality,’ Caroline Downey, National Review Staff Writer and visiting fellow with Independent Women’s Forum, told Fox News Digital.
‘As the daughter of a West Point graduate and Army Captain who served in Vietnam, I can say that those prime objectives have fallen subservient to progressive political goals,’ she continued. ‘The military academies have surrendered to woke ideology, jeopardizing their purpose which is to form upstanding leaders of intellectual, mental, and physical fortitude that can protect and defend the United States. Despite Democratic lawmakers accusing him of forsaking veterans, Hegseth proved that he has always been dedicated to their welfare not just in words but in deeds.’
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said after the hearing that it is important that Hegseth is confirmed ‘immediately’ and allowed to start as soon as possible.
‘To me, it’s important he gets on the job immediately,’ Banks told reporters.
‘We can’t vote on confirming him out of the committee until President Trump is President Trump again. So January 20th, the committee will meet and we’ll pass him out of the committee… and hopefully he immediately goes to a vote on the floor because we can’t wait,’ he continued.
Following the hearing, several Senate Democrats expressed a continued unwillingness to support Hegseth and claimed he wasn’t qualified.
Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report